Hochleistungsfähige Kommunikationsnetze: Wer investiert?

Abstract

Germany faces a qualitative change in communication. Broadband applications and Internet services have created an ecosystem with new value chains. Demand for bandwidth is growing rapidly. In ten years’ time we expect a transformation to a gigabit economy that relies on very high capacity networks. In Germany, competitors of the former incumbent Deutsche Telekom are the main investors in very high capacity broadband. Internationally, Germany is lagging behind in the coverage of gigabit networks, which leads to a high risk for its future competitiveness. The financing of urgently needed investment seems feasible when taking into consideration today’s private investments, international benchmarks and state aid programmes. The government has to set growth-fostering conditions with a clear commitment to a Gigabit network now.